Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is a PON standard developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and specified in IEEE 802.3ah, which is incorporated herein by reference as if reproduced in its entirety. It provides a simple and flexible way of using optical fiber as last mile broadband service.
A single fiber can be used for both the upstream and the downstream transmission with different wavelengths. The Optical Line Terminal (OLT) implements an EPON Media Access Control (MAC) layer for transmission of Ethernet Frames. The Multi-Point Control Protocol (MPCP) performs the bandwidth assignment, bandwidth polling, auto-discovery and ranging. Ethernet frames are broadcasted downstream based on the Logical Link Identifier (LLID) embedded in the preamble frame. Upstream bandwidth is assigned based on the exchange of Gate and Report message between OLT and Optical Network Unit (ONU).
Ethernet over Coax (EoC) is a generic name used to describe all technologies which can be used for transmission of Ethernet frames over coax cable. The name comes from the fact that, except for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS), all these technologies have in common that the Ethernet Frames are transmitted in the MAC layer.